Pokémon X and Y have a legendary problem. Or, should I say the games have a Legendary problem. As the first Pokémon games for the 3DS, one would think Nintendo would go out of their way to make players feel special. That there would be Mystery Gifts every two or three months, to encourage people to turn on their systems and remember the game exists. Yet, instead, we're facing something of a Legendary Pokémon draught.

There are currently 54 Legendary Pokémon. 52, if you don't want to count Hoopa or Volcanion, since they haven't had any kind of official release yet. In Pokémon X or Y, we can get Xerneas or Yveltal, one of the three legendary birds (Moltres, Zapdos, or Articuno), Zygarde, and Mewtwo in the game. Which is an admirable number of legendaries available to acquire without having to connect to the internet or attend an event. Yet, when it comes to actual legendary distribution events, I feel Nintendo has let those of us outside of Asia down.

So far, only one legendary has been made available for people who aren't lucky enough to be somewhere around Japan. That's Celebi, and people had to use the Pokémon Bank to get it. The other two distribution events thus far for people in the United States involved variations of standard Pokémon. Which isn't to say the Speed Boost Torchic with Blazikenite wasn't appreciated (and annoying), or that we didn't care for the pattern on Hold Hands Vivillon's wings. Just, it's been 9 months since Pokémon X and Y were released, and it seems like there should have been more Pokémon doled out to players.

I suppose one could argue that the Pokémon Bank introduction meant Nintendo didn't have to go out of their way to provide us extra legendaries. People could pop into Pokémon Black, White, Black Version 2, or White Verison 2, and grab what they'd like. Except it wasn't as easy as that. To acquire some older legendaries, people would have had to get a hold of two DS units, to get Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver legendaries into a game that would work with the Pokémon Bank. I'm sure only the most dedicated would have the patience to keep their Pokémon transferred year after year, from one installment to another.

Plus, we have to look at what Nintendo did for the last game. Pokémon Black Version 2 and White Version 2 had three legendaries - Genesect, Keldeo, and Deoxys - sent out over WiFi within eight months of the game launching. There was also a local shiny creation trio event held at GameStops, where players could pick up shiny Dialgas, Palkias, and Girantinas. Not to mention GameStops also had Meloettas. There's a distinct disparity.

I suppose there is some consolation in knowing that Diancie will be distributed at GameStop stores sometime in the next few months. Yet, that still leaves us wondering about Hoopa and Volcanion. We know these legendaries exist, waiting in the code, but have no idea when they'll appear. It's disappointing that Nintendo is holding them back, and that the only reason we're getting Diancie is to hype up Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby's Mega Diancie.

I suppose I'm just disappointed that Nintendo isn't really "supporting" Pokémon X and Y. The company certainly made an early push by giving us the special Torchic and Celebi, but then dropped the ball. Previous games seem to have had much more effort put into keeping people checking in, and a part of me can't help but think more effort is being put towards hyping up Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby than it is to giving people a reason to keep checking in to X and Y. The Fancy Pattern Vivillon and eventual Diancie are nice, but it seems like there should have been more.